On May 29, 1453, Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine...

On May 29, 1453, Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire, was captured by the Turks.

In 1736, American patriot Patrick Henry was born on the Studley plantation in Hanover County, Va.

In 1790, Rhode Island ratified the U.S. Constitution, completing approval of the document by all 13 of the original colonies.

In 1848, Wisconsin joined the Union as the 30th state.

In 1903, comedian Bob Hope was born in Eltham, England.

In 1943, American troops defeated the Japanese in the battle of Attu in the Aleutians.

In 1953, New Zealand`s Edmund Hillary and Nepal`s Tenzing Norgay became the first men to reach the top of Mt. Everest, the world`s tallest peak.

In 1963, thousands of people were killed in a windstorm in East Pakistan. In 1979, the federal government grounded all DC-10 jetliners for emergency safety inspections in the aftermath of the May 25 crash near Chicago`s O`Hare International Airport in which 275 people were killed.